


Whispers and Daggers (We're Losing Our Tongue)

by Kapua



Series: Just the Beating of Hearts (Flash Challenge) [21]
Category: The Witcher (TV), Wiedźmin | The Witcher (Video Game), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types, Wiedźmin | The Witcher Series - Andrzej Sapkowski
Genre: F/F, Modern AU, Yennaia Flash Fiction Challenge (The Witcher), lecturer!yennefer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-21
Updated: 2020-08-21
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:48:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26022166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kapua/pseuds/Kapua
Summary: "Interesting approach."Yennefer blinks. The woman's tone isn't outright rude, but it's certainly far from friendly. "I'm sorry, you are?""Tissaia de Vries."And Yennefer swears she sees her life flash before her eyes, because Tissaia de Vries is one of the most renowned faculty in Europe when it comes to English. The only problem is that she specializes in the classics, which means Yennefer has just spent the past two hours unknowingly insulting her and calling the woman's work next to worthless.AKA the modern au where Yennefer is a visiting lecturer who manages to unintentionally piss Tissaia off.
Relationships: Tissaia de Vries/Yennefer z Vengerbergu | Yennefer of Vengerberg
Series: Just the Beating of Hearts (Flash Challenge) [21]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1878580
Comments: 17
Kudos: 86





	Whispers and Daggers (We're Losing Our Tongue)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thinkbucket](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thinkbucket/gifts).



> For thinkbucket, who requested lecturer!Yen :)

Yennefer walks into the lecture hall and grins as she sets her bag down next to the podium. She takes a second to look out over the empty seats and bask in the knowledge that she's _here_ , one of the youngest visiting lecturers ever to be invited to Cambridge. It feels a little like a dream, but she's worked her ass off to get here and she has no intention of squandering the opportunity.

She begins to set up for her lecture and mentally crosses her fingers that everything goes according to plan.

###

The first few weeks of the fall semester go flawlessly. She can already envision a long and illustrious career--maybe even a permanent appointment here, one day.

Unfortunately, all of that goes completely, irrevocably sideways one lovely October morning. Yennefer is just beginning her lecture when the door at the back of the hall opens and a small woman slips in. It's too dark to see who she is, but she's clearly not a student herself. 

Yennefer figures it's not her job to sort out who this person is and continues her lecture on the merits of upending the traditional curriculum. Her students seem thrilled with the idea of tossing out what she deems "stuffy old navel-gazing manuals" and replacing them with more modern texts, and she thinks the lesson goes over rather well. Until, that is, the class concludes and the woman from the back of the room comes up to her.

"Interesting approach." 

Yennefer blinks. The woman's tone isn't outright rude, but it's certainly far from friendly. "I'm sorry, you are?"

"Tissaia de Vries."

And _fuck_. Yennefer swears she sees her life flash before her eyes, because Tissaia de Vries is one of the most renowned faculty in Europe when it comes to English. The only problem is that she specializes in the classics, which means Yennefer has just spent the past two hours unknowingly insulting her and calling the woman's work next to worthless. 

What comes out of her mouth next is absolutely insane. She blames it on the fact that when she's uncomfortable she turns into an asshole, but instead of apologizing or trying to smooth things over, what she says is: "Oh, come to learn something new, then?"

Tissaia's eyebrows rise so high they nearly disappear into her hairline, and Yennefer wishes she could disappear. The smaller woman hums under her breath and says, "Something like that," in a way that makes it perfectly clear exactly what she thinks of Yennefer's suggestion, and she turns on her heel and leaves the room without another word.

As soon as the door closes, Yennefer slumps into an empty desk. She's fairly sure she just single-handedly tanked her academic future, and she has no idea how to fix it.

###

Three weeks pass before she gets up the nerve to do anything. A quick online search tells her that Tissaia is doing a lecture series at Oxford, so Yennefer takes the train and spends the whole trip there rehearsing what she's going to say. 

There's a delay on the tracks that means she gets there just as the lecture is ending, but she squares her shoulders and walks inside the hall anyway.

Tissaia is stood near the podium, and a few students are gathered around her chatting amiably. Yennefer's breath catches as the smaller woman tips her head back and laughs at something one of the students says, and she's abruptly struck by just how beautiful she is. She hadn't noticed when Tissaia came to her class, but now she can't look away. 

She waits until the students start to leave before approaching the podium. Tissaia sees her coming and her face shutters, all signs of warmth and openness gone in an instant. Yennefer bites her lip and opens her mouth, only to realize that her carefully rehearsed speech has vacated her brain. 

So instead, what comes out is, "Can I buy you a drink?"

Tissaia blinks at her, clearly taken aback, and Yennefer is just about to apologize for even offering when the smaller woman shrugs. 

"Okay."

###

So that's how Yennefer ends up at The Eagle and Child, crammed in the corner booth under the plaque commemorating the Inklings, and she thinks this is like some weird English-lecturer's fantasy to be sat in this spot with one of the most brilliant women on the planet sat next to her.

They both nurse their drinks for a few minutes, the raucous noise from the rest of the pub filling in the silence between them until Yennefer sighs and decides to just get it over with.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

And great. Okay. Clearly Tissaia is not going to make this easy on her, but Yennefer steels herself and says, "For being an asshole." The words draw a surprised laugh from the smaller woman, and Yennefer's heart does a little backflip at the sound.

"Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity or registering wrongs," Tissaia says. It feels like a test, but Yennefer already knows the answer.

"Charlotte Bronte was a smart woman," she replies, and Tissaia's lips curl up into a faint smile.

The tension that's been simmering between them eases after that, and the remainder of the evening passes in a blur of drinking and the occasional warm press of their legs under the table. 

When they finally part ways, Tissaia gifts her with a small smile and simply says, "I'm sure we'll see each other again soon." Yennefer nods, hoping she's right, and heads for the train station. She's halfway there when she shoves her hands into her pockets to ward off the evening chill and feels something in one of them. 

She pulls it out and promptly feels like she's just won the jackpot. Because on a tiny scrap of paper, there's a phone number with a short note scrawled in neat cursive below it:

_To new things._

_-T_

**Author's Note:**

> Send me prompts and say hi in the comments or on tumblr @kapuahiwahiwa! <3


End file.
